Files
republic-os/legal/us/code/title-18/chapter-83/section-1717.md
T
Fabio 76b8ec33a7 Legal corpus: the complete U.S. Code (59,740 sections, all 53 titles)
Ingested titles 12–51 and 54 from OLRC USLM XML @119-100 (the whole Code
now, uniform edition; Title 53 is reserved/empty). LegalText 11,221 ->
59,740; repo total 105,704 records. Deterministic (byte-identical rerun,
verified on Title 42's 8,356 sections); make check green. make
legal-us-code default now covers every title.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-07-06 10:51:44 -04:00

52 lines
3.9 KiB
Markdown
Raw Blame History

This file contains ambiguous Unicode characters
This file contains Unicode characters that might be confused with other characters. If you think that this is intentional, you can safely ignore this warning. Use the Escape button to reveal them.
---
type: "LegalText"
title: "18 U.S.C. § 1717"
description: "Letters and writings as nonmailable"
jurisdiction: "us"
corpus: "united_states_code"
kind: "code_section"
title_number: 18
title_name: "CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE"
chapter_number: "83"
chapter_name: "POSTAL SERVICE"
section: "1717"
citation: "18 U.S.C. § 1717"
status: "current"
release_point: "119-100"
release_date: "2026-06-26"
source: "official"
source_url: "https://uscode.house.gov/download/releasepoints/us/pl/119/100/xml_usc18@119-100.zip"
source_identifier: "/us/usc/t18/s1717"
source_file: "data/legal/raw/us/code/title-18/usc18.xml"
source_hash: "bc9a7be1a8cc198aef0fad5dba6df96f1ff517aeab44bd55d4d23575b2af7db3"
raw_snapshot_hash: "1a1bbbbdb59e376ada4eb7ad1056fd68d396679ee7ab59f0561af15006122708"
text_hash: "7c15b2f579f7a3f1943825fba515e61280e5fc89c9d53c0973444d3e61e426e6"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-04"
confidence: "official"
tags: ["legal", "us-code"]
---
# 18 U.S.C. § 1717 - Letters and writings as nonmailable
## Text
(a) Every letter, writing, circular, postal card, picture, print, engraving, photograph, newspaper, pamphlet, book, or other publication, matter or thing, in violation of sections 499, 506, 793, 794, 915, 954, 956, 957, 960, 964, 1017, 1542, 1543, 1544 or 2388 of this title or which contains any matter advocating or urging treason, insurrection, or forcible resistance to any law of the United States is nonmailable and shall not be conveyed in the mails or delivered from any post office or by any letter carrier.
(b) Whoever uses or attempts to use the mails or Postal Service for the transmission of any matter declared by this section to be nonmailable, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years or both.
(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 782; Pub. L. 86682, § 12(b), Sept. 2, 1960, 74 Stat. 708; Pub. L. 91375, § 6(j)(27), Aug. 12, 1970, 84 Stat. 780; Pub. L. 101647, title XXXV, § 3552(a), Nov. 29, 1990, 104 Stat. 4926; Pub. L. 103322, title XXXIII, § 330016(1)(K), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147.)
## Notes
Historical and Revision NotesBased on title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., §§ 343, 344, 345, 346 (June 15, 1917, ch. 30, title XII, §§ 13, title XIII, § 1, 40 Stat. 230, 231; Mar. 28, 1940, ch. 72, § 9, 54 Stat. 80). Section consolidates said sections 343345 of title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed. The provision as to opening letters was incorporated in paragraph (c). Venue provisions in said section 345 of title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., were omitted as covered by section 3237 of this title. Section 346 of title 18, U.S.C., 1940 ed., defining “United States” was omitted. It is incorporated, however, in section 5 of this title. References in text to other sections do not include definitive sections. Only those susceptible of violation are cited. Mandatory punishment provision was rephrased in the alternative. Minor changes were made in arrangement, translation, and phraseology.
Editorial Notes
Amendments1994—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 103322 substituted “fined under this title” for “fined not more than $5,000”. 1990—Pub. L. 101647 struck out “; opening letters” after “nonmailable” in section catchline. 1970—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 91375 struck out “of the United States” after “Postal Service”. 1960—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 86682 struck out subsec. (c) which related to the opening of letters.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date of 1970 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 91375 effective within 1 year after Aug. 12, 1970, on date established therefor by Board of Governors of United States Postal Service and published by it in Federal Register, see section 15(a) of Pub. L. 91375, set out as an Effective Date note preceding section 101 of Title 39, Postal Service.
Effective Date of 1960 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 86682 effective Sept. 1, 1960, see section 11 of Pub. L. 86682, Sept. 2, 1960, 74 Stat. 708.